Tidewater News and Opinion Forum
A place for civil discussion of the events of the day for Tidewater residents without the limitations imposed by media forums.
Details are scarce, but clearly Stumble Joe is a man of treason.
Or maybe he is just a Sloppy Joe.
Not a good look for the most powerful man in the world. But then, maybe he isn’t that. Joe Biden might actually be the most embarrassing king the world has ever known.
Most of the sources I consult for news about the war in Ukraine stopped publishing military situation reports (“sitreps”) months ago. I don’t know why. Perhaps it is because TV news shows stopped giving time to retired generals to bloviate over maps of Ukraine.
Here is a particularly good sitrep. I don’t know anything about the author, so I suppose he might work for the Kremlin. That, of course, wouldn’t mean that his analysis is flawed or that — if he is American — he lacks patriotism. Rather, his work is timely in light of current events and addresses a number of themes which are much discussed in other forums. In short, an informative summary.
Having lived through the parade of failures — Vietnam, Bosnia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan — it is disheartening to contemplate that US geopolitical incompetence has reached such a depth as the war in Ukraine makes evident. We have been poor students of experience.
Continue reading “Stumble Joe’s War”What once was theory now is emerging as reality. Saudi Arabia’s finance minister said yesterday in Davos that the kingdom is “open to discussions about trade in currencies other than the US dollar,” according to ZeroHedge (via Bloomberg).
The transition away from the petrodollar will go down in history as one of the greatest failures of Biden administration foreign policy. On the other hand, most of the world will probably benefit from the liberation of energy markets from U.S. influence.
When I think of the deep state I tend to think of the intelligence community, but the term can just as plausibly refer to the civil service or more broadly to the bureaucratic infrastructures of government.
The brief essay at the source makes the point that, “The Pendleton Act [which created the modern civil service system] was conceived by reformers who disliked politics because they distrusted democracy.” I’m sure there was more to it than that, but the claim raises interesting questions. For example, if one’s aim is to preserve democracy, isn’t it necessary for government to remain small?
A corollary question: Wasn’t the spoils system that existed prior to the civil service more democratic in its way than the system which replaced it?
Vox Day highlights a warning delivered in the U.S. by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida a couple of days ago: “East Asia is the Ukraine of tomorrow.”
U.S. foreign policy has become belligerent and destructive. At the same time we have accrued a shameful track record of ineffective military operations. Other countries around the world — including our allies — have begun to notice, and to react.
Day thinks that Japan will break with the U.S. if necessary to avoid war with China. I think he’s correct.
A third stash. Is there a pattern here?
David Petraeus, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Joe Biden — it is beginning to look like private possession of classified documents is a standard practice in Washington, DC. The big secret is that government secrets are no secret at all, except to the American people who pay for them.
I’m not keen on impeaching the current miscreant, but these revelations do inspire questions. For example, why not simply publish all (or most) classified material?
More soon, I expect.
The conditions this story describes are not sufficiently appreciated, as far as I can tell.
Continue reading “‘Decision To Arm Ourselves Or Arm Ukraine’: Navy Secretary Admits Crisis In US Defense Stockpiles”Some people say Stumble Joe’s classified documents scandal is completely different from Orange Man’s classified documents scandal, but I’m not convinced. Just considering physical features, I doubt that a locked garage meets any of the minimal standards set forth in the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) for storage of classified materials. Orange Man’s basement closet at Mar-A-Lago arguably did meet NISPOM standards, if only because it is underground.
Also, Stumble Joe’s arrangement offered a fast getaway car to any would-be classified document thief. Orange Man never did that!
Personally, I think poor old Stumble Joe is being set up; someone is engineering his exit from power. Don’t be surprised if the U.S. economy tanks or the war in Ukraine goes south for NATO or the civil war in Mexico crosses our border. Stumble Joe will be the scapegoat.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 